MAY, 2016

VSB ENGAGE
TH E FUTU R E OF O UR F A C I L I T I ES

VSB HAS BEEN LISTENING

Now well tell you what weve heard

On May 8 from 1:00 to 4:00pm at Creekside
Community Centre (1 Athletes Way),
well report back to you on themes that
emerged during 6 open house/workshops,
12 stakeholders meetings, 6 pop-up sessions,
and in our online survey of more than
1,650 people.
WHAT WERE DOING
VSB staff are using criteria from the Interim Long
Range Facilities Plan (LRFP) to review schools and
decide what to do with them to make sure seismic
upgrades happen as quickly as possible and that
we have new schools where we need them in the
future.
That plan includes considering consolidating
or closing some schools to ensure all staff and
students are in seismically safe schools and to access
funds to build new schools. Consultation asked
stakeholders and the public to provide feedback on
the Interim LRFP criteria for school closure. Staff will
now use that feedback in revising the plan.
TIMELINE
The revised LRFP will be presented to trustees at a
committee meeting May 18. Trustees will vote on
the revised plan at the May 24 Board meeting.
Staff will then continue analyzing all school sites,
comparing them to factors for closure from the
Interim LRFP, using guidance from public feedback
and the VSB school closure policy, to develop a list
of schools that could be considered for potential
closure.

FEB 2016

Launch of
communications
Stakeholder
meetings begin

MAR 2016

Launch of
online survey
March 5 Open
House, Creekside
Community Centre

APR 2016

Public meetings:
Renfrew CC (Apr 2)
VBE (Apr 7)
JCC (Apr 10)
River District
Centre (Apr 24)
SFU World Art
Centre (Apr 30)

Staff would present that list to trustees for

consideration at the June 20 board meeting.
SCHOOL CLOSURES
No school has been identified for closure. All
school sites are being reviewed based on factors
for consideration of potential closure, VSB policy
(Potential Consideration for Closure) and themes
from stakeholders and the public.
Based on that analysis, staff will develop a list of
potential schools to be considered for closure to
present to the Board at its June 20 public meeting.
Trustees make any decision on whether a school
would be closed. That would only happen after
extensive consultation with each community.
ONGOING CONSULTATION
Once a list is presented to trustees VSB policy requires
60 days notice be provided to each affected school
community. Staff, parents and other community
members would then have many chances to share
their perspectives and concerns with trustees before
any decisions are made.
After consultation with each school community and
careful consideration by trustees the earliest any
school could be closed would be September 2017.

MAY 2016

Report out on public

consultation (May 8)
Revised Long Range
Facilities Plan presented
to Committee II (May 18)
Revised LRFP to trustees
for approval - Board
meeting
(May 24)

JUN 2016

Staff uses plan, public

feedback and VSB
policy to develop a list
of possible schools that
could be considered
for closure
(May 24 to June 20)
Staff presents list
to trustees - Board
meeting (Jun 20)

JUN-SEPT 2016
Staff prepares in-depth
report examining each
school from Jun 20 list
Detailed report on
schools considered
for potential closure
presented to trustees
Board meeting

FALL 2016

Consultation with
affected school
communities begins

For more information, please check out our website:www.vsb.bc.ca/VSBengagement.

Updates will be posted there as they become available.